


A Candle in the Window on a Cold, Dark Winter's Night

by thebiqueenxx



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Kreese is an absolute piece of shit, M/M, Nightmares, Rating is more for language, just let Johnny and Daniel be happy dammit, some depictions of violence but not graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:07:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28779507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebiqueenxx/pseuds/thebiqueenxx
Summary: They were just supposed to stop by the old Cobra Kai place to grab the last few things. It was supposed to be a quick, easy trip, and Johnny had all but promised they could stay in bed the rest of the evening. Buthewas there.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 12
Kudos: 72





	A Candle in the Window on a Cold, Dark Winter's Night

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all!! this is my first fic for this fandom, so I hope I did it justice!! 
> 
> Title is taken from "Can't Fight this Feeling" by REO Speedwagon.

They were just supposed to stop by the old Cobra Kai place to grab the last few things. It was supposed to be a quick, easy trip, and Johnny had all but promised they could stay in bed the rest of the evening. But _he_ was there.

Kreese stands outside the dojo, smoking a cigar, like he was waiting for them, like they didn’t plan this, he did. Johnny drops Daniel’s hand instantly. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Johnny spits out, the words filled with venom, fists clenched at his sides. 

“Last I checked, this was my dojo now.” Kreese takes the last long inhale from his cigar before crushing it under his shoe. “Shouldn’t I be asking you what the fuck you’re doing here, and with this asshole no less?”

Daniel looked between Johnny and Kreese, the air crackling with tension.

“Look man, just let us get our stuff and we’ll be out of each other’s lives for good, all right?” Daniel says, warily as he subtly steps a half inch in front of Johnny, while keeping his eyes trained on the man in front of them. 

“Nah, I don’t think so.” 

It happens so fast. Daniel sees Kreese lunge, but is suddenly pushed out of the way by a very angry Johnny Lawrence. Daniel goes to help, but Kreese gets the advantage too quickly and kicks Johnny hard in the chest, sending him down to the ground with a thud. 

Daniel yells, and prepares to attack, only hoping that Johnny will get up and help him finish this, once and for all. He and Kreese keep up the fight for a few minutes, before he hears Johnny get up. That’s all the distraction Kreese needs. He kicks Daniel in the head, sending him onto the grass. He hears a shout, then blacks out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daniel looks up from the grass. The world is blurry and seems to run in slow motion. He can make out the imposing form of Kreese holding someone by the neck before giving them one last punch, and dropping them in a limp form on the ground-- no, it couldn’t be. Daniel screams, but no sound comes out. Kreese turns towards him, laughing, and showing him bloody fists. Daniel slowly crawls his way to the pale and, oh god, so bloody, form of his partner while Kreese stands there, wiping his knuckles on his pants and still laughing. Daniel reaches Johnny and turns his head toward him. 

“Johnny, please, Johnny…” Daniel whispers as a sob creeps up his throat. “This can’t be real, you have to come back to me, Johnny please…” A tear falls down Daniel’s cheek as he reaches for Johnny’s wrist to feel for a pulse. “Come on, Johnny, come on, please!” Daniel can’t find a pulse, and grips Johnny’s wrist harder and brings it to his face. “Johnny…” Daniel whispers as he drops his partner’s hand and turns to glare at Kreese, a fury in his eyes that hasn’t been seen before.

“You…” Daniel grits out as he stands on shaky legs. “You killed him. Now I kill you,” he says coldy, as he gets into stance.

Kreese just laughs and mirrors Johnny’s usual position, mocking him. “What do ya got, pretty boy?” he says with a sneer.

Daniel screams and lunges. Daniel is too distracted, and his head injured. Kreese expertly blocks his every move, and lands a devastating blow. Daniel goes down, and his head hits the pavement with a sickening crack. Everything goes black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Daniel? Daniel? DANIEL!”

He gasps and opens his eyes suddenly. Everything is dark, he’s sweating, but he’s… in bed? After a moment he recognizes the concerned blue eyes of his partner staring back at him.

“Dude, are you alright? You had me worried there for a sec, man,” Johnny says with a nervous chuckle.

Daniel shakes his head as the tears start falling. “You, you were dead.” He whispers, almost silently.

Johnny looks at him worriedly and grasps Daniel’s face in his hands to wipe away some of his tears. “Hey I’m right here, it’s alright.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just a nightmare, I’ll go back to sleep in a minute,” Daniel says in a shaky voice, as he avoids eye contact with the man in front of him.

Johnny looks conflicted, like he’s debating whether or not he wants to have a “feelings” talk like some girl-- ok wait, no, he’s doing this for Daniel.

“Um, do you wanna talk about it?”

“Uh, it was Kreese. He came back, and, and…” Daniel’s eyes welled up with tears again. “He, wasn’t supposed to be there, but he was, and, and he wouldn’t leave us alone, and we had to fight him but he kept outmatching us and then--” Daniel let out a quiet sob. “And then, he, he killed you, and he was _laughing_.”

Johnny gives him another concerned look and runs his thumbs under Daniel’s eyes almost as if to catch the tears and stop them from falling. “Hey baby, it’s alright. I’m right here, okay? Look, I’m fine, I’m fine. We’re here, together, in our house, and nothing is going to change that, alright?”

Daniel shakily nods and pulls in a breath as he leans forward to hug Johnny and rest his head on Johnny’s shoulder. “It just seemed _so real_. And I was so helpless, I couldn’t stop him! Neither of us could!”

“Hey look, Kreese is a pussy and he’s out of our lives. For good this time.” Johnny says as he rubs Daniel’s back. He smirks. “Plus, there’s no way he could take us together now. We’re a, what did the kids call it? A power couple now.”

Daniel laughed into Johnny’s shoulder, despite the tears continuing to flow. “Johnny, I love you, but a ‘power couple?’ Really?”

“What? It’s what the kids say!” They’re both laughing now.

“Ok sure.” Daniel says as he lifts his head up and takes one of Johnny’s hands to kiss his rough knuckles. “I feel better now, it was just a dream. Sorry for waking you and making you talk about feelings.”

“Um, it’s ok. I’m uh, I’m always here for you.” Johnny says, somewhat timidly, as he runs his hand through Daniel’s slightly sweat-dampened hair.

Daniel smiles and leans in to peck Johnny on the lips. “I know you are, _darling_.”

“Ugh, you’re so _soft_.” Johnny returns the smile and pulls Daniel in for a deeper kiss. “I love you, you know that, right?” He whispers as he rests his forehead on Daniel's.

“Yeah, I know.” Daniel says with a smile, feeling much better. He lays them both back down, and ends up with his head resting over Johnny’s heart and their arms tightly wound around each other. He feels a small, feather-light kiss to his forehead that he’s absolutely sure Johnny would deny if asked about it, so he just smiles, and holds onto the memory as his own little secret.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated. <3 You can find me on Tumblr @thebiqueenxx


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